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26 September 2012

Symbiosis

Episode: s1, ep
22

Last episode it was arms dealers, now drug dealers are the villains of the piece. Although the situation and resulting moral dilemma is far more nuanced than most previous episodes and is not simply resolved.

What Happens

The Enterprise is studying a star with an intense
magnetic field, which may cause system problems. The bridge watches the changes
in the sun with awe. There’s a distress call, a freighter is going to burn up
in the atmosphere. It’s an old ship with 6 lifeforms onboard and only minutes
left. The people on the endangered ship don’t know what they’re doing, causing
much annoyance and confusion to the Bridge crew as they try to help. Eventually
Tasha has to talk them through beaming off the doomed freighter, and instead of
the crew they send over cargo. At the last minute only 4 beam away and they are
more concerned about the safety of the cargo than the two who died.

The rescued people are from 2
neighbouring planets and are in heated dispute over the ownership of the cargo.
They have zappy, electric hands, which mean they’re permanently armed. Picard
feels he has to resolve the issue. The aliens are impressed by Starfleet’s
technical knowledge and ask if they can have parts for their own ships. The
cargo is medicine that is desperately needed by the Buyer’s plague-ridden
planet. The Sellers maintain that their people work very hard to create the
medicine and cannot just give it away.

Crusher realises that it’s not
medicine but a narcotic; the plague doesn’t exist, the symptoms are
withdrawal. The entire Buyer planet has been addicted for 200 years. Crusher wants
to help with a synthetic drug that will wean them off the addiction. Picard
says they can’t do anything, the planets are symbiotic and the change would
destabilise both. The Sellers offer this one batch for free and Picard realises
that they know precisely what they’re selling. It’s not symbiosis, it’s
exploitation. Picard still can’t get involved, which means that the Enterprise won’t help fix
the failing freighters. The Addicts will have to figure it out. The Prime
Directive means they can’t change the status quo, but it also means they don’t
have to help maintain it. The Addicts are aghast and point out that Picard is
dooming their entire planet by cutting off their supply of medicine, Picard says
he knows exactly what he’s doing and casts a grim look at the crestfallen Dealers.
Beverly points
out the whole planet will suffer painful withdrawal and Picard speeches about
Prime Directive, though it’s clear the decision weighs on him.

Riker: lover,
adventurer, middle-management

While watching the sun Riker uses the word awesome in its
original meaning, giving it an impact it has mostly lost.

In order to get hold of the cure the desperate
Buyers/Addicts try to hold Riker hostage with their zappy hands. Picard won’t
be coerced and since they aren’t bad people they let Riker go and are very
sorry about it. His expression is hilarious.

Doctor Doctor

At the mention of plague all the aliens are sent to sickbay,
since the badly functioning transporter may not have successfully run its usual
med scan. Crusher examines the aliens (and the crew who have been in contact
with them) and cannot find any sign of an illness, even in the suffering the
Buyers. When the cure relieves their suffering immediately Crusher realises
what’s going on.

As a Doctor she’s disgusted by the situation, urges Picard
to end the exploitation, and is understandably frustrated that he can’t. She
even offers to synthesise a non-addictive alternative to wean the Addicts off
their dependency, a very sensible and humane option that nevertheless is not
allowed.

Dark Past

Wesley incredulously asks Data about why people let themselves become addicts, because Data will know about that? It's Tasha who provides a nuanced and realistic answer. Her colony (the one with the raping and violence and poverty) was full of addiction, as people sought any way to feel good for a while. She points out that no one means to get addicted, but by the time the drugs feel artificial you have to take them, not to feel good but to keep from feeling bad. Wesley -a child of privilege- doesn't understand.

I thought this was good scene, especially as I'd been expecting a heavy-handed 'drugs are bad' speech.

Space Trumpets

I like that when Picard makes a ship-wide announcement it is
preceded by a naval whistle. I like to imagine an Ensign somewhere blowing a
whistle into the comms system. In discussion with friends we decided
that a holiday camp/supermarket-style announcement with a xylophone intro would also
be a nice touch. Hidey-Hi!

The Prime Directive
is a Harsh Mistress

Despite the shameful exploitation
of one species by another the Prime Directive means that Picard must ignore his
moral outrage and refuse to offer aid, since it will certainly change the way
of life of both species. However it’s clear the situation wasn’t sustainable
anyway, and since Picard isn’t allowed to interfere he withdraws the offer of
technical help (which presumably he shouldn’t really have given in the first place). It
means that events will take the course they were going to anyway, the
exploitation will eventually end, but there will be much suffering because of
it.

This is the sort of clever but
morally uncomfortable solution that Justice simply didn’t have.

Something Is Very
Wrong

How come the Buyers/Addicts don’t seem to understand their own tech?
They don’t know how their freighters work, which is kind of stupid. Their
civilisation’s wellness depends on ferrying medicine, resources and tech
between worlds, so surely those freighters are their number one priority. I
suppose the implication is that the addiction stops them from functioning well,
but that seems a bit lame, since there’s little indication that the drug
impairs any abilities. I appreciate this is meant to be like the story of the
grasshoppers and the ants, but with narcotics; however it doesn’t work if the
ants have forgotten how to gather food.

Future Fashion

The costume design very neatly sums up the situation. The
Sellers/Dealers look more affluent than the Buyers/Addicts, clearly indicating
that they receive all the luxuries that their neighbours make. Also the Dealers have an appropriately 70s look.

Death by Space
Misadventure

The other 2 unnamed people on the doomed freighter die, their own
people don’t care.

Won’t Somebody Think
of the Children?

At the start Picard warns the entire ship that studying the
star will cause disruption to systems, despite the shields. Engineering is
prepared, but even so there’s probably no way of knowing what will go wrong. As
the Bridge crew watch the shiny dance of magnetic fields Picard sends the ship
closer, even though it will ‘push the shields to their limits’. Gosh I hope
that lightshow is worth almost overwhelming the systems that keep everyone
onboard safe, and that life support continues to function as it should.

The End

Picard is sickened by the whole sorry situation and is no
longer interested in looking at the sun (lets hope none of the science officers
were relying on this trip for their work). He tells Geordi to decide where they
go next, he just wants to get away. The episode ends on a bit of a low note.